Married to a Shinobi
by Maddy-Lynn
Summary: *Sequel to Stripped* Sakura finds life quite different once she's married to a shinobi. And it kills her the day he doesn't return home. Everyone believes he's dead, but she doesn't. Will her search for her love lead her to him? or to insanity?
1. Prologue

**[A/N: YAY!! Finally, the sequel to "Stripped**_**"**_** is here! If you haven't read "Stripped" yet, then I suggest that you go and read that story first. I hope everyone enjoys this fic =D]**

**

* * *

****  
Prologue**

_I'm finding out in the hardest way  
The consequence of every mistake I've ever made  
I'm just not quite strong enough  
I'm wearing this smile that I don't believe in  
_

_

* * *

_They say time heals all wounds. I beg to differ. Some wounds are just too deep to ever be fully healed. They may seem to be healed on the outside, but deep down, they still hurt and leave you weakened of your former strength.

In my life, I have had to face many hardships. You may not be able to see the wounds now, but I still can. I can see every deep scar left from the hardest challenges of my life: from losing my parents to the time I was raped. I can still see those scars vividly on my flesh. For me, they will never leave no matter how much times goes by. The only thing time can do is numb the pain so it doesn't hurt as much.

It's becoming easier to move on from the past as so many new things begin to happen. It finally feels like I have control of my life, a life I want. I wouldn't say things went back to how they used to be, but they are definitely better.

If only history didn't have the nasty habit of repeating itself…

Chaos enters my life and it nearly destroys me once again. Why now, when things were going well, did tragedy have to fall into my life? Things like this shouldn't happen. But then again, things like this should only be expected… when you're married to a shinobi.

* * *

_I'm scared to death and it shows  
The look in your eyes  
Says things I don't wanna know  
I'll do my best explaining all the things I'm going through_


	2. CH1 Life and Death

**CH1 – Life and Death**

_Everyday you're in my head  
You are the world  
All I ever wanted  
Was to see you smiling  
You're all I want in my life_

* * *

Pain was nothing new to Sakura. However, nothing in the world could have prepared her for _this_ pain.

"Give me the damn drugs already!" she screamed.

"I can't yet, Sakura. You're still not dilated enough," Tsunade told her yet again. She dealt with this many times before but she still became annoyed with Sakura's constant cries and screams for meds.

"Dammit! Where the hell is Kakashi?"

Tsunade frowned. She may have been annoyed with the girl but she still felt guilty about that. Kakashi had been sent off on a mission and wasn't expected to be back for at least another day. She had given Kakashi that mission with reluctance; Sakura had been getting closer to her due date but she didn't think she would actually go into labor while he was gone. She just hoped the messenger hawk she sent had already found him and he was on his way back as they spoke.

—*—

_**33 weeks ago**_

_Kakashi just returned from a long mission to find things not quite as he had left them. First off, Sakura had gotten a chest reduction. Also, she wasn't going to be a kunoichi for the village anymore._

_That was because she was pregnant._

_When the words first left her mouth they refused to process in his mind. It was just inconceivable to him that they had conceived a child! They had always used contraceptives so really he was not expecting her to tell him she was pregnant._

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yes. You can even go ask Tsunade-shishou."_

_He plopped down in his chair and continued to stare at her stomach. Sakura fidgeted and stared back. This wasn't exactly the reaction she had been hoping for._

"_Kakashi?" She walked over to him, sat on his lap, and loosely draped her arms around his neck. "I know neither of us planned for this to happen. I can still get it terminated if you really don't want to start a family yet." Deep down, she hoped she wouldn't have to have to do that. But at the same time, she felt she needed to give him the option in case he really didn't want to start a family with her._

"_Family?" he mused as he stared off into space. He never thought that he would ever have a family of his own. Then again, he also never thought that he would be with Sakura. Life was definitely unpredictable. Even so, he was surprised at the words that flew out of his mouth next. "Marry me."_

_Sakura blinked and gawked at him. She couldn't believe what he just said either. "Are… are you serious?"_

_He looked her in the eye and said, "Why not? We're having a child so we might as well get married too. So what do you say? Will you marry me, Haruno Sakura?"_

_Slowly a smile blossomed on her face. "Of course!" she squealed and tightly hugged him. The hug ended just as quickly as it had begun due to the pain that shot through her still-sensitive chest. "Ow. Bad idea," she hissed. Kakashi laughed and pulled her into a kiss._

—*—

It was amazing how silent the hospital grew after Tsunade had given Sakura the spinal tap. But the silence didn't quite last. Sakura's shrieks of pain were replaced by the giggles. At least she was quieter than before.

However, she still asked for Kakashi.

No one had the guts to tell her that he wasn't going to be there—even in her drugged up state, everyone still feared the wrath that might come if she knew. When she would ask, everyone would either change the subject or say he would be there soon. Sakura knew they were lying, though, and it annoyed her. So eventually she gave up asking and silently moped.

_Kakashi,_ she thought, _I know you're always late to everything but why do you have to be late for _this_?!_

A couple more hours dragged by before Sakura was finally ready. She swore the drugs were wearing off because as soon as the baby started to crown, pain shot through her body once again. Sakura's screams seemed to be louder now as well, and Tsunade wished she could cover her ears during the whole thing.

"You're almost there Sakura, just give me one more good push."

"I'm pushing as hard as I can, dammit!" she cursed. She just wanted the pain to stop and to be able to hold her child—and for Kakashi to magically appear.

After some more swearing—from both Sakura and Tsunade—the room soon filled with the high-pitched cries of a newly born baby. Everyone in the room let out of collective sigh of relief at the sweet sound. Sakura sat back while the nurses cleaned him off. Never before did she think she was ever so overjoyed as she was at that moment.

The child's cries almost instantly softened once he was safely cradled in his mother's arms. All she could do was smile at her new, beautiful son. His eyes were emerald, just like hers, and his hair was silver, just like his father's. He stared back at her and cooed as his tiny arms reached out for her. Sakura wondered if her mother felt this blissful when she first held her.

"Do you know what you're going to name him yet?" Tsunade asked.

"Rihito." As if already knowing his name he smiled at her and happily waved his arms. Sakura laughed and kissed his forehead. "When can I take him home?"

"You can both go home tomorrow. For now, both of you should get some sleep." Tsunade gently plucked Rihito from Sakura's arms. He squirmed a bit but was too exhausted to do much else.

After Tsunade left Sakura shifted in her bed to get comfortable. She sighed and looked out the window. "Kakashi," she said, "when you get back, I'm gonna kill you."

—*—

It was three in the morning when Kakashi finally burst into the hospital. He went straight to the front desk and slammed his hands down on the counter. Before he had time to collect his breath enough to speak, the nurse sitting behind the desk smiled and stood up. "I'll take you to her."

The nurse escorted him to the elevators. But he was restless, and the elevator was not moving fast enough. The nurse shifted restlessly beside him. It was as clear as day that there was nothing more he wanted than to be by Sakura's side that instant. Hopefully, he wouldn't start taking heads for every second longer it took them to get to her room.

"Room 514, at the end of the right wing," she said just as they reached their floor.

Kakashi glanced at her and nodded. He was gone before the doors finished opening. He stopped before her door to take a deep breath and compose himself before entering silently. She was asleep, as he expected. He pulled a chair up next to her bed.

"Sorry I'm late," he softly laughed. He took her hand in his and gently squeezed. He felt terrible for missing the birth of their child. He knew she was mad at him; she would be crazy not to be.

Soft footsteps entered the room. Kakashi looked up to see the nurse holding a bundle of blankets. "Would you like to hold your son?" she whispered.

He stood and turned towards her. After she gently placed the child in his arms, all he could do was stare in awe. "Rihito," he murmured and softly brushed his cheek. He had already been agitated from being moved around, but now started to softly cry. "You're okay, you're okay," Kakashi chanted. He had no clue what to do and the nurse had already left. He gently rocked the child but it only seemed to upset him more.

"What the…?" she stopped short when she saw Kakashi. "Kakashi." She sat up slowly, partly in disbelief that he was actually there. But then she took notice of her crying son in his arms and the helpless expression on Kakashi's face. "Here," she said and held out her arms.

He happily handed the child over. He sat down on the edge of her bed as she pulled down her hospital gown to feed Rihito. "I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"You're here now, that's what matters." She smiled but Kakashi saw through it. He knew she was just trying to make him feel better, but it only made him feel worse.

"Sakura—"

"It's not like you would have been in the room anyway," she cut him off. She knew he was going to apologize again but she didn't want to hear it. She was too tired to care anymore.

He held back a sigh and let it slide. Over the past few months together, he learned very well to read between her words and actions, so he understood that she really didn't want to talk about it anymore. Staring at Sakura holding their child made it all the easier for him to put it behind them.

"I just hope that his looks are the only thing he takes after you."

"Excuse me?"

Sakura laughed lightly and smiled. "All I'm saying is that I would much rather have him not be a little hellion."

"If he is, he gets it from you, not me," he teased.

Sakura rolled her eyes and looked back down at Rihito. He had finished suckling and had stared to dose off again. "I can't believe he's ours, that we made him."

Kakashi stroked her cheek and lifted her chin so he could kiss her. It was long and sweet, and filled with joy and the hint of anxiety of being a new parent. They parted and he gazed into her eyes. _"I love you,"_ his eyes said. _"I love you too,"_ she smiled back. They both looked down at Rihito and told him the same thing.

—*—

The first few weeks were trying as Sakura and Kakashi got use to caring for a child. For the first month, Tsunade let Kakashi go on paid leave. That first month passed damn quickly and it pained them both to have him gone on missions again.

He had a mission practically every week it seemed. He rarely stayed home for more than a couple days and for the first day or two he would be recovering from his previous mission. But he had to take so many missions; they needed the money.

Exponentially, it took its toll on all of them.

Kakashi was missing watching his son grow up. He had missed Rihito's first word; his first steps; he even missed his half birthday. Kakashi hated that he missed so much. Sakura hated it too.

In recent days, she had grown more short-tempered with him. Taking care of Rihito by herself most of the time exhausted her to the bone. She felt so lonely, too, without Kakashi around. When he was gone, she longed for the nights that she could fall asleep in his arms again. When he was home, either she was too exhausted to appreciate having him back, or he was too worn-out to be worth appreciating.

Kakashi couldn't help but note that Sakura gradually became less affectionate towards him as well. She used to squeal joyfully and hug him tightly and kiss him to death when he would come home after being gone. Now, he was lucky to get a smile—a genuine smile—and a peck on the lips. It hurt, on some deep level, but soon he learned not to expect grand displays of love anymore.

The tension grew between them like energy building up when two tectonic plates rub against each other. And like with tectonics, when the energy is released, it can be devastating. One evening, that was just the case…

It was half past midnight. Sakura sat in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea. The house was silent save for the soft humming of the appliances running and the night outside. The front door opened and quietly clicked shut. Kakashi walked into the kitchen, grabbed a cup from the cabinet, and filled it at the sink.

"Welcome back," she said flatly. "Have a good time drinking with the guys?"

Kakashi inwardly sighed. She was in another one of her moods. Now he wished that he had stayed out with Naruto and Sasuke and got drunk. "Yes."

She sighed sharply. "You should have stayed out then."

He half-slammed his cup down on the counted. He was getting pretty tired of her attitude. "Is there something you want to talk about, Sakura?"

"What could I possibly want to talk about?" Her tone was razor sharp, sharper than he expected it to be. His brow furrowed. She only sounded like that when she had been drinking.

Kakashi walked over and took her cup and brought it up to his nose. Sure enough, it was spiked. Knowing Sakura she had been drinking since she put Rihito to bed. This was another thing he learned: when she was really upset with him, she would drink—a lot. "You're drinking again."

"So? Correct me if I'm wrong but you had a couple drinks tonight too."

"Exactly. A couple. How many have you had?"

"Are you really judging me?" She stood and glared at him. "Who are you to tell me how much I can drink?"

"You're husband."

She laughed once and rolled her eyes. "Really? Because you don't act like it. You're always gone and when you're back, you don't stay long and sleep most of the time if you're not in the hospital!"

"I'm doing my damn best, Sakura. I'm sorry that I have to be gone so much. It's not exactly cheap to have a child you know."

"Oh I know. That's because I'm the one that has been raising him ninety-nine percent of the time."

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He hated fighting with her. Their fights had been getting worse each time and he wasn't sure how much more he could take. "Sakura, can we please not do this?"

"Why, can't come up with any good comebacks?"

"No, I just don't want to wake Rihito and I don't want to fight with you when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk!"

Kakashi sighed and walked out of the room. He couldn't handle Sakura at the moment. She called after him but he ignored her and left the house. He wasn't sure where he was going to go; anywhere away from Sakura seemed like a good place.

Back at home Sakura fumed in the kitchen. What could have possessed her to marry that man? She groaned and made her way upstairs to take a shower. A long, hot shower always helped her calm down in times like these.

She stopped at the top of the stairs where she found Rihito sitting with his arms around his knees. Dread slowly filled her. How long had he been there? How much of their argument had he heard? Cautiously, she knelt down and placed a hand on his back. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Rihito looked up at her with eyes red from crying. He sniffled and rubbed his nose on the back of his hand. "Why you mad at Daddy again?"

Uh oh. How many of their fights had he overheard? She sighed and pulled him into her arms. "I'm sorry. I'm not really _mad_ at him. I just wish he was home more often."

"Me too," he said and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck. She lifted him up and carried him back to his room. She tucked him in before returning downstairs. There she remained curled up on the couch waiting for Kakashi to return.

The next thing Sakura knew, Rihito was shaking her awake. Kakashi had not come home. Was he that upset with her? She made breakfast for Rihito before going upstairs to shower and change. She had to go looking for Kakashi. She had to apologize and pray that he wasn't too mad at her.

She dropped Rihito off at Ino's before starting her hunt around town. She first tried the cenotaph but he wasn't there. Really that was the only place she could think of to look for him since she knew he wasn't in the hospital. She went over to Sasuke's to see if he knew where he was. He didn't. Neither did Naruto, Iruka, or Teuchi from Ichiraku Ramen. Her last hope was to check in with Tsunade.

"Sakura?" Tsunade looked up from her paperwork, surprised when she entered her office. "What can I do for you?"

"Would you happen to know where Kakashi is?"

"I sent him on a mission this morning. I'm assuming he didn't tell you then."

"No."

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Sakura, you should sit."

That wasn't good. In all the time she had been Tsunade's apprentice there were very few occasion when she used that tone; when she did, it was when she was informing someone of bad news. "Kakashi is currently on an S-Rank ANBU mission right now. He should be back in two weeks."

Replace "should" with "hopefully"!

"How could he do this?" she asked herself. How could he just run off on such a dangerous mission without even telling her? He was running away from her, she concluded. He had always been. "Oh my god… he is such a fucking bastard! He's just running away from me in the only way he can. He only married me because he ended up knocking me up! Now he's taking every chance he can to get away from me!"

"What are you talking about?" Tsunade stared at the girl worriedly as she kept rambling. The only other time she had seen the girl this emotional was right after the fiasco with Sasuke leaving and her parents' death.

"Sakura!" Tsunade slammed her hands down on her desk and she shut up quickly. "You have no clue what you're talking about. Do you really think Kakashi would go out of his way to do everything he has been doing for you if he didn't love you? Is everything all right, Sakura? I haven't seen you like this since…"

Honestly, she didn't think she was. Things were not how she hoped they would be. She missed Kakashi; she hadn't had a good night's sleep since Rihito was born; when she could sleep, her dreams haunted her. Everything seemed to be slowly falling apart—again. "I'm sorry. Things are just… fucked up."

A week later, three ANBU shinobi dragged themselves through the gates of Konoha. The mission had not gone the way they had planned and they had the wounds to prove it. On their way to Tsunade's office they dropped off one of their unconscious members at the hospital. They were all worried about him and wondered if he would be alive by the time morning came.

"Enter," Tsunade called to the knock on her door. She looked up from her paperwork as two ANBU members stepped inside. Her brow knitted together; there should have been more of them. "You're back early."

"We were ambushed. Apparently they were waiting for us," Anko said.

"And where are the others?"

There was a moment of hesitation between the two of them. "Imada is in hospital right now in critical condition."

"And Kakashi?" she asked sharply.

Both of them bowed their heads—not a good sign. Anko stepped forward and placed something on her desk. Tsunade leaned forward and picked up the item. It was a silver ring. More specifically, it was Kakashi's wedding ring. There was only one explanation. Tsunade clenched her fist around the band. "Turn your reports in tomorrow."

Tsunade stood and turned to the window behind her after they left. In a couple hours, the sun would rise above the horizon and Tsunade would be faced with one of the toughest things she has ever had to do: tell her apprentice that her former teacher, the father of her child, her husband, was killed.

Elsewhere, Sakura sighed and sat up in bed. Yet again, Rihito was crying and refused to allow her even an hour of sleep. The worst part was that she had work in the morning and Tsunade wasn't likely going to be fond of a half-alert apprentice running around.

"It's okay, I'm here," she sighed as she picked up her crying, flailing son. She tried bouncing him up and down on her hip; she tried feeding him; she tried singing to him. Nothing in the world was calming him down. "You just love being a little hellion like your father, don't you?"

He hiccupped and for the first time had stopped crying. "Daddy," he pouted at her.

"He'll be back in a few days."

"I want Daddy back now."

Sakura sighed and held her son closely to her. "I know. So do I."

* * *

_Where'd you go  
I miss you so  
Seems like it's been forever  
That you've been gone  
Please come back home_


	3. CH2 Love Lies Bleeding

**CH2 – Love–Lies–Bleeding**

_Fate had finally found me  
As time began to blur  
There was nothing in sight  
And your voice was all I heard_

* * *

Being summoned early to work by Tsunade probably wasn't the best sign. Other omens included the crow sitting on the fence when she left the house and the storm clouds rolling in from the north. However, it wouldn't be until later that these omens' ominous meaning would kick in.

She left Rihito with Shizune outside of Tsunade's office. The smile Shizune had given her when they arrived made her worry. Was there something wrong with Tsunade? Things between Konoha and Iwa had been getting pretty rough lately; had something detrimental happened? Or even worse… had something happened to Kakashi? She prayed not.

The atmosphere inside her office wasn't any better than it was in the hallway. She closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair before Tsunade's desk. Tsunade herself was staring out the window—she too had noticed the storm clouds.

"You wanted to see me, shishou?"

Tsunade didn't answer right away. She turned around, still not looking at Sakura, and sat down. She set something down on the edge of her desk. Sakura glanced down at it. She picked it up and studied it. "Is this…?"

Tsunade nodded.

The world seemed to shatter around Sakura. There was only one explanation for her holding Kakashi's wedding ring in her hand: he was dead. But how? Why? Did fate really have to be so cruel to her and take everyone she loved away from her?

"I'm sorry Sakura."

She sat there silently. Somehow the pain hadn't hit her yet. She felt it yes, but she didn't _feel_ it. There were so many things she knew she felt but wasn't feeling. She was angry, terrified, heartbroken, desolate, addled, and numb. But none of these fierce emotions stirred to the surface—yet.

"I–I have to go." Her voice was hallow; she was too far gone. Tsunade watched her go, completely at a lost as to what she could do to help her. Would she be able to handle the loss of another person in her life? Would she be strong enough, for Rihito's sake?

Out in the hallway, Shizune sat and watched Rihito as he played with blocks. He was very intelligent for his age and the only time his tall towers collapsed were when he knocked them over himself. Most other children would not have such a grasp of balance at his age. Then again, it was only to be expected that he was so intelligent, just look at his parents.

Shizune heard the door to Tsunade's office open and close. She looked up and watched Sakura slowly walk down the hall towards them. Her gaze was blank and distant, as if her body was going through the motions just through muscle memory because her mind seemed to be completely elsewhere. This wasn't how she expected her to take the news. Sakura's zombie-like state worried Shizune because she knew that she was only inches away from shattering into pieces as all the emotions built up inside of her; and when she did finally crack, she knew it was going to be worse than anything ever before.

Rihito heard her too and looked at her excitedly. When he noticed his mother's mood his smile quickly vanished. "Mommy?"

Her gaze shifted to him but her eyes still held nothing in them. But as she stood there staring at him, everything seemed to slowly come back to her. Her expression filled with distress and without warning she collapsed to her knees. Her shoulders began to shake and tears started to fill her eyes.

Rihito cautiously approached her. He had never seen her like this and couldn't understand why she was so upset. Seeing her cry made him want to as well. All he could think of to do was what she always did for him when he was upset: hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

"Don't cry Mommy," he sniffed as he wrapped his arms around her neck. "It will be okay."

She almost laughed at how foolish he was. "Yeah," she choked as she tightly hugged him back.

Shizune felt so helpless standing there, watching them. There was only one person that could ever truly comfort Sakura when she was this upset; but that person was never going to come comfort her. If it wasn't for Rihito, Shizune feared what Sakura might do—honestly, a part of her still feared that Sakura wouldn't be strong enough to hold onto reason.

Sakura took a deep breath and removed Rihito's arms from around her. She wiped away her tears as she stood up and tried to put on the best smile she could manage. "Come on, let's go home. We can bake some cookies."

_Damn_, Shizune thought_._ Sakura had become skilled at playing happy-go-lucky. It scared Shizune just how well she could hide her emotions.

Rihito didn't seem to notice that it was an act—or he didn't care enough to call her out on it. He smiled brightly and nodded his head. He loved baking cookies with his mom. Well, Sakura would bake them; he would just eat some of the cookie dough and pour in the chocolate chips. Still, it was something they both could enjoy and something that would—hopefully—distract Sakura long enough for her to not have a complete emotional breakdown in front of him.

"Sakura," Shizune said just as she was about to leave. "If you need anything, we're all here for you."

"Thanks."

—*—

Sakura couldn't even begin trying to figure out how to explain the concept of death to a child that wasn't even one year old yet. Sure, he was intelligent well beyond his age, but death was something that no child should ever have to learn so young. All the time they were baking cookies she was trying to figure out how to tell Rihito that Kakashi was never coming back. Would it be better for her to lie to him for now and just say he would be gone on a really long mission? She hated the idea of lying to him but it was for the best. When he was older—and when she was stronger—she would tell him that Kakashi died. It was likely he would hate her when he found out she lied to him. But she would rather live with his anger in a few years than live with him brooding and depressed from that day on.

Throughout the day, Sakura's friends stopped by to give their condolences as the gossip spread throughout the village. Ino brought over flowers; Naruto brought over ramen; and everyone else brought something to comfort her too.

Their gifts didn't help though. The flowers reminded her of the inevitability of death; the ramen reminded her of the times Team 7 use to go out and eat at Ichiraku Ramen; she found a connection to Kakashi in someway to every gift her friends gave her. It pained her, but she would always put on her best smile for them.

When night fell, things just got worse.

Sakura had just finished putting Rihito to bed and returned to her own room. She stood in the doorway and stared at her bed. Never again would she fall asleep or wake up in Kakashi's arms. She curled up in her bed and buried her face in Kakashi's pillow. Bitter thoughts started to overtake her as her chest became heavy and her eyes stung as they began filling with tears.

This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

Kakashi wasn't supposed to die—not now.

If she thought hard enough, she could almost feel him there in bed next to her. He nuzzled her hair as he pulled her closer against his chest. His warmth filled her and she felt so safe in his arms. But that was only in her mind.

All night she cried as she dozed in and out of sleep. For the most part, she didn't sleep. Her mind was too restless to allow her to sleep for longer than a few minutes at a time. She was too upset over Kakashi's death to sleep. Yet at the same time, she had a sinking feeling that something was off.

She rolled over and stared at the clock. 4:00 A.M. it ticked away. She sighed and sat up knowing full well that she was not going to fall asleep anytime soon. It was eerie how silent the house was in the dead of night. Even more eerie when you took into account her nerves were already rattled. She got up and opened the window to help try and dispel the weird feeling in the air.

Nights were beginning to get chilly again as summer turned into autumn. But the small bite in the breeze didn't bother her as it caressed around her and the room. She closed her eyes and let the night fill her. As the wind whistled in her ears she could almost hear Kakashi's voice again. It brought a soft smile to her face as she imaged him whispering her name in her ear just before he kissed her neck like he used to.

"_Sakura~"_

Her eyes shot open. Was it her imagination or had she really heard Kakashi calling for her? Her heart pounded heavily in her chest. Could it be a sign, maybe, that he was still alive?

"_Sakura~"_

There it was again! This time she knew she didn't imagine it. She distinctly heard Kakashi say her name—though this time his voice sounded more pained.

"Kakashi," she called back. The wind swirled around her as if responding to her answer. Most likely, she was just crazy from stress and lack of sleep; but deep down, she felt that Kakashi was still alive, somewhere.

The following evening Tsunade had arranged a small memorial service for Kakashi. Only those closest to him were attending save for Rihito; no one thought he should have to witness such an event, so Shizune watched over him while Sakura and the others paid their last respects.

At the service, Sakura cried and made a fuss but not because Kakashi was dead. On the contrary, she was not in the mood to say her final goodbyes. After the previous night she refused to believe that he was dead. His ring could have fallen off while in battle and right now he could be hiding away somewhere recovering from wounds and thinking of a way to safely return home. The others silently thought she had lost it and was in denial. Shinobi died; that was the way things were. Being a kunoichi, Sakura knew the risks involved in the job. And she should know the weight that comes with being married to a shinobi.

"Don't you dare carve his name into that stone!" she cried. Naruto and Sasuke were holding her back so she wouldn't attack the poor man who was carving Kakashi's name into the cenotaph. "He's not dead! His name doesn't belong on that stone!"

"Sakura, please calm down. He's dead, just accept it."

"Easy for you to say, Naruto. You're not in love and married to him. And he's not dead!"

"Sasuke," Naruto sighed.

He knew what Naruto meant and activated his Sharingan. When he looked at Sakura she instinctively looked back at him and realized a little too late at what a mistake that was. He had already hypnotized her with a genjutsu. Naruto caught her before she fell to the ground.

"I'll take her home," he said. He cradled her in his arms and carried her home. When he got back to her house, Shizune changed her into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before leaving.

Naruto lingered and watched her sleep. He had seen her go through so much loss that it pained him to even try and imagine how she was possibly feeling. Piece by piece, everything had been ripped away from her. He somehow doubted that all the misery he had grown up with being a jinchuuriki could compare to Sakura's despair.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura. I promise that I'll do whatever I can to make sure that you never have to go through this again."

—*—

The days trudged by. The only thing Sakura could do was laze around the house watching over Rihito. Never once did she stop thinking about Kakashi. Every night she heard him call her name. Every morning she saw him in Rihito's smiling face. Every evening she cried for him to return.

It had been a week before Kakashi's absence began taking a toll on them—fiscally that is. Now that he was gone, where were they going to get money? Sakura was sure she could find some little job in the village but she had another idea. She would become a kunoichi again.

"Absolutely not!" Tsunade protested when Sakura asked her to let her start going on missions again. "Why would you want to put your son though that?"

"I won't die."

"Sakura, shinobi die all the time. Or have you forgotten—"

"Kakashi is alive," she cut her off. "He's out there somewhere. I know he is."

Tsunade sighed heavily and ran her hand though her hair. Of all the things that Sakura got from her why did she also have to get her stubbornness? "And what about Rihito? Who's going to watch over him while you're gone?"

"I'll find someone."

A moment passed between them as they stared each other down, neither giving in to the other. She couldn't exactly understand Sakura's reasoning of becoming a kunoichi again but she didn't think she could sway her. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she sighed. Sakura smiled brightly and got an eye roll in response. "For the next month, I only want you training. From there we'll see where you stand and I'll assign you missions accordingly."

"Thank you, shishou."

—*—

"Is he awake yet, Tsumi?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He stood up from his desk and followed his subordinate to the holding cells. The place was like a giant underground maze and dimly lit by wall torches every few meters. They stopped before a set of bars. Tsumi stepped around him and unlocked the door for him. They proceeded deeper into the holding area to where a man was kneeling with his hands chained above his head. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the son of the great White Fang."

Kakashi lazily looked up at him with one eye open. His left eye had been taped shut with a chakra seal on top to ensure he could not use his Sharingan. He had also been stripped of everything but his pants. His body felt heavy, likely the result of being drugged. The metal shackles around his wrist were digging into his skin.

"I'll tell you now," his captor said as he circled around him, "no one is coming to look for you." He stopped in front of Kakashi and tilted his chin up. "Really, it was too easy to fool those teammates of yours. All I had to do was put that little ring you wore on the a burnt corpse and they though it was you that had been burned in the fire."

Kakashi's expression remained impassive as he refused to give him any sort of response. He had been captured and tortured by the enemy before. If this guy expected him to crack, he had another thing coming.

"Do you know why you're here?"

Kakashi didn't know exactly, but he guessed they wanted information from him. It had to be high-class information too for them to kidnap him.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to try to force you to tell me what I want to know. Not yet. Your will is still far too strong for that." He smiled wickedly and tilted his head to the side as he studied Kakashi. "Tsumi, did you find anything of interest on him?"

"The only thing out of the usual was a picture of a woman and a child."

"Bring it here." Tsumi passed him the photo. At first, he just glanced at it, but then he took a closer look. "This must be your family. It would be a shame if tragedy were to fall upon them," he chuckled darkly. "Tell me, does she scream when she's fucked?"

Anger grew in Kakashi's eyes. He wanted so desperately to rip him a new one. Unfortunately he couldn't. He was chained up, drugged, and outnumbered beyond his liking. Whenever he was released of his restraints, Kakashi swore to himself—and to Sakura—that he would make him pay for talking about her like that.

He put the photo in his pocket and started to leave. He turned back to Kakashi and said, "Don't worry, I'll make sure she enjoys it." He began laughing again and left.

Kakashi dropped his head and inwardly sighed and cursed at himself. He prayed nothing would happen to Sakura or Rihito. He would never be able to get over the guilt if anything did. He had to find a way to escape as soon as possible. But considering how well they had executed his capture, he doubted he was going to have much luck on his own.

* * *

_It's over  
I'm falling apart  
Why is it over?  
It can't be over_


	4. CH3 The Dead Shan't Die

**CH3 – The Dead Shan't Die**

_All I dream of is waking to you  
Your touch is what I'm missing  
I hate living without you  
Oh, how I need you_

_

* * *

_Any mission that would get her closer to Iwa, Sakura took happily even though they were high-risk mission most of the time. Kakashi had vanished while investigating a camp right at the border of the Earth Country where Iwa and rogue nin were supposedly planning raids against Konoha. There had been rumors for years that Iwa was planning on going to war with Konoha but they had never made any actions to back up the accusations. That was until now. With caravans being attacked while on route to Konoha, and Konoha shinobi being attacked more often while on missions, not many people would argue that Iwa was planning on starting a war.

The days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Still there was no trace at all of Kakashi. She was beginning to give up hope. He should have come back by now. There should have been some clue about where he was at least. Rihito was also starting to get depressed. This was the longest time he had gone without Kakashi being home and she was beginning to fear that he would never return.

"What mission do you have for me today?" Sakura asked as she stood before Tsunade and Shizune.

"You're taking a vacation."

"What is my mission?"

"I'm not assigning you another one. You're going to work yourself to death."

"What is my mission?" Sakura asked through her teeth. She would not give into Tsunade. Most shinobi would have jumped at the chance but Sakura wouldn't rest until she dragged Kakashi back.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched. Sakura had become very trying in the past few weeks. In fact, most of her recent drinking was associated with Sakura and the stress the girl provoked. "Do you want to work yourself to death?" Sakura stood silent and stared at her with a small smirk on her face. Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Fine. Shizune."

Shizune pulled out a scroll and held it out in front of her. "Here are the details. You are to go into Iwa a week and see if you overhear anything important."

"Thank you." She took the scroll and headed to the cenotaph. She had started going there in honor of Kakashi—not because his name was on the stone, but because he had always gone to pay respects to his old friend, Obito.

She sat down in front of the stone and rolled out her mission scroll before her. Most of it was useless babble and she skimmed over it. She was to go into the West District of Iwa where shinobi were restocking their supplies and recovering after a recent raid. Once in the city she would have to do her best to blend in and be able to exit without much notice either. She was to leave the following night, arrive in Iwa in four days—hopefully—stay a week, and then return home. She'd be gone for two weeks total. Rihito wouldn't be happy, but she had to take the mission; she had to find something to prove to the others that Kakashi was still alive.

—*—

To get to Iwa without being attacked, she had to take the long way so no one would suspect her being a kunoichi in disguise. Luckily she still had the curves Rihito had given her so it wasn't as obvious that she was an agile ninja. On the morning of her second day of travel, she ran into a merchant heading towards Iwa. The old man offered her a ride on the back of his wagon and she happily accepted it. Traveling by wagon cut her traveling time greatly and provided a blissful relief for her feet.

On the evening of her third day of travel, Sakura parted with the old man as he continued further east. According to the outpost, the south gate of Iwa was about a four hour walk. Considering it was already getting dark, she debated on camping out in the nearby woods until the morning. Then again, it wasn't that long of a walk and sleeping in a bed would be really nice.

"Are you going to Iwa?"

Sakura jumped at the voice. She hadn't notice that she was no longer alone. Three men now joined her at the crossroads. They were all fairly tall, built, and had the air of someone that has killed before. As she further looked them over she noted Iwa headbands hanging from their belts. Were these the guys she was supposed to eavesdrop on? Judging by the bandages peeking out from their clothes, they were.

"Yes," she answered. Her voice quivered a bit. With any luck the guys would think it was because she was tense from their presence rather than excited that she had found her target already.

"You know, it's very dangerous for someone like yourself to be wandering around these parts alone," one of them said. The look in his eyes made her want to gag and die. Of course her targets would be a bunch of pervs. That was almost as worse as his insult. She wasn't a weak little girl foolishly traveling around by herself; she was a tough kunoichi on a mission.

"Knock it off, Tsukasa. You're scaring her." He didn't sound very serious about it. However, Tsukasa did shut up rather quickly and stopped undressing her with his eyes. "Forgive him," he sighed and looked at Sakura. "Would you like us to escort you to the city?"

Sakura blinked and stared at him. Was her mission really going to be this easy? She had to look down in order to hide the sly smile that she couldn't hold back. "Thank you," she mumbled.

They start down the path towards the city. The men remained relatively quiet for the first half of their walk but as they got closer, Tsukasa and Sebu started joking more. The third man—the man that had offered to escort Sakura—remained eerily quiet. Sakura didn't even know his name yet.

"You're tired," the nameless man stated.

"N-no, I'm fine." She flashed him a smile and picked up her pace. But she really was tired and could only keep a brisk pace for a short time. When she fell back into pace with him, he looked at her with an eyebrow raised and a hint of smugness started to curl in the corners of his mouth. She sighed. "Okay, maybe I am a little."

"Would you like to rest?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Such pride doesn't suit you."

"Who are you to judge me?" she said tersely.

"Hmp, a sharp tongue you have."

Sakura flinched. Crap, she slipped up. She flexed her jaw and made a mental note to watch what she says in front of these men more carefully. He smirked at her and once again tuned everyone out as they continued towards the city.

When they arrived at the West District of Iwa, Sakura was surprised at how easily they entered. They literally just walked through the gate with only a nod to the guards. As they passed them, Sakura was deeply grateful for their company because she doubted it would have been so easy for her to enter by herself.

Tsukasa and Sebu wanted to go out for drinking before retiring to an inn. The nameless man passed and went off on his own, leaving Sakura standing in the middle of the relatively empty street with the other two men. They looked at her curiously.

"You wouldn't be interested in having a drink or two would you?"

"As long as you're treating," she replied coyly.

They both smiled at her. "Let's go then." They each took one of her arms and together they walked down the street, Tsukasa and Sebu laughing all the way, in search of a bar.

They sat down and ordered a round of drinks. With luck, these boys would get chatty once alcohol was introduced into their systems. Sakura had to make sure to pace herself and keep her head as clear as possible. It wouldn't do any good if they ended up saying something but she was too drunk to hear or remember it.

After three rounds she was ready to give up. All they talked about were petty things like women they met while on their travels, stupid things they did together while on those same missions, and many more useless tales.

"What about the one guy? He still hasn't said a word yet has he?"

"No and it's been two months now."

Sakura stopped twirling her glass around in her hand. She took a sip, so she wouldn't raise suspicion, then continued to watch the olive in her martini roll around the glass. Were they talking about Kakashi? The timing was about right so maybe… maybe they were the ones that took him!

"Then again, do you really expect anything less from him?"

Sebu laughed heartily and clunked his flagon on the counter. "I still can't believe that his people are stupid enough to think him dead."

With every word they said, Sakura was more and more sure that they were indeed talking about Kakashi. Her heart pounded strongly in her chest at the thought that she was _that_ close to getting her husband back.

"I think you've had enough," Tsukasa said and took her martini glass.

"Huh? Why" she asked at looked up at him. He laughed and pointed down at the counter. She looked down and saw that it was wet. Judging by the olive laying there too, she had spilled her drink while she was lost in thought. "Oops."

Both men laughed and stood up. Tsukasa offered her his hand and for a brief moment she hesitated. She didn't trust these men. However they seemed to know about Kakashi. Maybe if she followed them around for a couple days she would find him. It was worth a try, wasn't it? Sakura took Tsukasa's hand and hopped off her stool.

The streets were lonely and silent, only adding to the anxiety stirring inside Sakura. Being that she was on an undercover mission, she had not packed many weapons. She didn't feel all that optimistic about being able to fend off these guys if it came down to it.

At the inn, the guys offered to share a room with her to cut costs. She half reluctantly agreed and the guys booked two connecting rooms. Tsukasa and Sebu slept in one while Sakura and the third guy—she still didn't know his name—slept in the other. It wasn't the worse thing she has had to do for a mission—and this was for a mission. These guys were Iwa nin and she had to eavesdrop on any she came across to try to get information. The fact that they also knew about Kakashi was a bonus.

For the next week she shadowed them as much as she could. Her cover story was that she was looking for her sister so she had to wander around the town and pretend to ask about her so the guys wouldn't wonder. Every night she would go with Tsukasa and Sebu to the bar. They drank every night but she didn't. They got drunk quickly and didn't seem to notice that Sakura was sipping lemon water rather than alcohol. Unlike the night they arrived, they no longer slipped up and mentioned anything worthwhile at the bar.

On her last night there she couldn't sleep. She hadn't been sleeping well the entire time she was there but it was worse that night. She woke up in a cold sweat and stared blankly at the ceiling. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the low light and her senses started to peak in awareness. She was alone. Voices came from the other side of the wall and she listened carefully. The three men were talking about something. She closed her eyes and focused a small amount of chakra to her ears to try and pick up what they were saying.

"In five days, Haku's team will destroy this bridge, cutting off some of their supplies from the east."

"Have you heard from Kannah yet?"

"No."

"Do you think she was captured?"

"It's possible. She might just be in hiding for now too."

"But we can't move until we hear from her."

"I know. For now we'll focus on seeing if we can get the great Copy Ninja to talk."

"And what should we do about her?"

There was a long pause of silence and Sakura became more and more anxious. Had they found her out?

"She's harmless. If it ever comes to it, we'll just hand her over to the boss."

Sakura sighed inwardly with relief. Thank heavens that they didn't see her as any possible threat. Her pounding heart started to slow and she tried again to fall asleep.

—*—

She left the West District and said that was going to roam the other parts of the city for the next few days. Really she was returning to Konoha. Tsunade would be glad to hear that she had indeed learned some things and that the mission wasn't a total bust.

"Here's my report, Tsunade-shishou." Sakura handed her a scroll and Tsunade put it aside like she didn't quite care. She couldn't blame her though; she was very stressed and busy and probably nursing a hang over. "I would like to go back to Iwa."

"No."

"But I know I can get more information."

"No."

"Please, shishou. I have to go back."

Tsunade grumbled and glared over the rim of her coffee cup. "Why?"

"Well… I think I've found Kakashi."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and dropped her cup on her desk. "Kakashi is dead, Sakura."

"No, he's not! It was a set up. Some group of Iwa shinobi put Kakashi's ring on a dead body so nobody would come looking for him when they kidnapped him. Right now, he's somewhere in Iwa being tortured for information. I have to go back. I have to save him!"

"Do you really think I have the resources necessary to allow you to go off this whim of yours?

"So you're just sentencing Kakashi to death?"

"He's already dead."

"No, he's not!"

"Sakura, I will not allow you to return to Iwa just so you can try to save a man that is already dead! Unless you have anything else about you_ mission_ you want to tell me, you can go home to your son!"

Sakura clenched her jaw and fists and inwardly fumed. Why was everything such an uphill battle with Tsunade? Before she left, Tsunade had told her to take a vacation but now she says that she can't spare her to go back; talk about being a hypocrite!

All the way home she grumbled to herself. Here she had finally found a trace of Kakashi yet she wasn't allowed to do anything about it—she really hated irony. Seeing her son again helped calm her down.

"Mommy, when Daddy come home?" Rihito asked as he poured the bag of chocolate chips into the bowl. They were making cookies, both as a treat for him and to distract Sakura from her annoyance at Tsunade.

"He'll be home soon enough. Just be patient."

"I miss Daddy."

Sakura stopped stirring at looked at her son sitting on the counter next to her. He may have had her eyes, but he looked so much like Kakashi. "Me too. Me too." She turned her attention back to the bowl of cookie dough and continued mixing in the chips. Her mind wandered to the past and to the day Kakashi found her after she ran away. Their relationship had grown so rapidly in a short period of time, it hurt to have to already let it go. Tsunade was being vacuous by not letting her go! Actually, Sakura was the one being vacuous for listening to her. She wasn't sure how exactly she was going to do it, but Sakura was going to save Kakashi, with or without Tsunade's approval.

It wasn't until two days later that Tsunade found out that she had left the village.

"Ino, will you give this to Sakura on your way home?"

"Um, okay…" she said slowly, obviously confused about something.

"What?"

"You do remember that Sakura is gone on a mission?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow and Ino guessed she didn't. "She left two days ago. She asked me to watch Rihito for her until she gets back."

Seconds passed as Tsunade's anger slowly built up. "Sakura!" she yelled and smashed her fist through the wall. She couldn't believe that she had gone behind her back and left the village—again!

Shizune enter the office cautiously after hearing all the commotion. "Lady Tsunade?" Ino took this time to skirt out of the office. She gave Shizune and apologetic look because she knew what was coming.

"This is the second time she's done this! What the hell am I gonna do with that girl?"

"Should we send a team after her?"

"We have no choice. But right now everyone is busy. As soon as Naruto, Kiba ad Hinata are back from their mission, send them off to the West District of Iwa to get her."

—*—

Sakura made record time back to Iwa. She decided not to bother with taking the long route. The longer it took her to rescue Kakashi, the worse. Knowing that he was being tortured pained her and drove her on through her exhaustion.

Getting back into the city was going to be an interesting event.

She didn't think that they would let her walk right in even if the guards on duty recognized her from the night she first arrived. Sneaking in wasn't very bright either. She didn't have much money to try to bribe her way in. With no ideas, she huffed and plopped herself down in the dirt and stared at the gate to the city.

She had to get back into the city. She had to find Tsukasa and the others again and try to figure out where they were keeping Kakashi. She had to then somehow rescue Kakashi. So many things had to be done yet she had no clue how she was even going to do them. Her goal was so close in front of her, but it was as if a glass maze separated her from it. Somehow, she was going to get Kakashi back. She wouldn't rest until she did. She stood up, wiped the dirt off her butt, and started walking down the long path towards the city gate. With luck, she'd figure out a way to get in.

"Need an escort?" a man behind her asked.

She stopped walking and smiled to herself. She pivoted around and bowed thankfully at the nameless Iwa shinobi from before. "Thank you."  


* * *

_No matter where you go  
I will find you  
If it takes a long, long time  
No matter where you go  
I will find you  
If it takes a thousand years_


	5. CH4 The Hunter and The Hunted

**CH4 – The Hunter and the Hunted**

_It's like a prey  
Playing games with the hunter  
Nowhere to run  
It's time to surrender_

* * *

"May I ask why I had to escort you into the city again?"

Sakura looked up from her bowl of ramen. It was weird how he was staring at her but she tried to ignore it. "When I was looking around the other districts, someone said they say a girl that matched my sister's description leaving with a caravan not too long before. I left the village in hopes that I could catch up to it. I did, but my sister wasn't with them."

"I see."

She began fidgeting in her seat for two reasons: one, she always felt a bit weird around him; and two, she was anxious to ask him a question. She stared into her ramen as if it would somehow give her the courage to finally just say the words that were trapped in her throat.

"Let me guess, you want to know if you can stay with us again?" he asked and sipped his tea.

Was it really that obvious? Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah. Is that okay?"

"If you wish. But," he paused and took another sip of tea, "it will cost you."

Crap. Of course there was a catch. What would his price be? Money? Sex? She prayed it wasn't the latter. Though considering that it might be able to help her find Kakashi, it wouldn't be the worse thing she had ever gone through. Maybe she was just over thinking everything. He could ask for something else like for her to cook or clean or give them massages. Oh, who was she kidding? Why would he ask for any of that? It wouldn't make sense for him to want money either. If she had money then she wouldn't need to stay with them—

"I'm joking," he said, breaking her train of chaotic worry. He smiled and sipped his tea. It amused him how overly emotional she could be and how quickly she went from total dread to relief.

"That was cruel."

"You have no idea."

A chill ran down her spine as the words curled off his tongue. There was a sadistic passion in voice as if he were remembering all the people he had ever tormented. Sakura reminded herself again that she had to be on guard around these guys at all times. She also couldn't show fear around them; not if she wanted to get close enough to them to find Kakashi.

—*—

Tsunade drummed her fingers on her desk impatiently as she looked over reports. For some reason, things seemed a lot easier when Kakashi was still around going on the important missions. No other shinobi in the village was ever as successful as he was for missions like these. At this rate, she wasn't sure that they could beat Iwa. They were always one step ahead of them and most of the information she did get back either was already known or false.

There were two sharp knocks on her door. She looked up as Shizune entered trailed by three shinobi. "Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata are here to see you, Lady Tsunade."

"Thank you, Shizune."

"So what's up Grandma? What do we have to do this time?" Naruto asked cockily.

Tsunade ignored the remark with a grain of salt and tried not to punch anything. "I need the three of you to go on an emergency recovery mission."

"Recovery? Of what exactly?" Kiba asked.

"Sakura."

"What?" they gawked simultaneously.

"It seems that Sakura has run off to Iwa with the crazy idea that someone there faked Kakashi's death and is holding him somewhere trying to get information from him. I told her not to go but obviously that didn't work. You all know just as well as I do that she's been obsessed with the idea that Kakashi is still alive and will do everything she can to chase her wild dreams."

"How are we supposed to even do this? Where in Iwa is she? It's a big city and there's no way we can search every inch of it."

"On her last mission, she was positioned in the West District. Start there and ask around for her. Akamaru should be able to track her scent too. We need to get her back as soon as we can. If anyone in Iwa discovers she's from Konoha, then it's highly likely she'll never come back."

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready. This mission is off the record and is going into enemy territory. Make sure to remove anything that would give you away as Konoha shinobi and you might see fit to wear different clothes." She had looked at Naruto with that last remark. Not that she ever cared for what a ninja wore while on a mission, but a bright orange getup like his was too easily noticeable and recognizable. "Don't let me down."

"Don't worry, you can count on us!"

—*—

Between keeping her cover and trying to keep a close eye on the guys in the hopes of find Kakashi, Sakura was pretty exhausted. She always had to be on her toes around them to make sure that she didn't overstep her bounds.

Out of all the guys, Tsukasa was more relaxed around her than the others. He would go out to lunch with her, talk with her, and just hang out with her during the evenings. Tsukasa was more likely to slip up than the other two guys and Sakura was banking on one night he would say something he shouldn't.

"You're not like most ninjas, are you Tsukasa?" she asked him one night as they sat on the balcony. It became a regular event for them to watch the sunset together and idly chitchat before having a late dinner with the others.

"Why do you say that?"

She shrugged and rested her arms and chin on the railing. "You just seem more relaxed than the others. You actually talk to me and hang out with me like a normal person."

He laughed lightly and mirrored her posture. "I guess when you put it that way, I am a bit different."

"I'm glad."

"Hm?" He looked over at her. Her eyes were soft and sparkled in the sunlight as she gazed off into the horizon. She was right that he was more relaxed than most ninja were, but there was another reason why he acted the way he did around her.

"It's nice to have someone I can talk to. It makes everything feel a little less chaotic to be able to do stuff like this."

"You know," he started, still looking at her. "I almost wish that you never find your sister."

She looked over at him with a puzzled look. When she met his gaze she was even more puzzled. He had never looked at her like that before. In fact, the last person to ever look at her like that was Kakashi. "Why?"

"Because then you would have no reason to stay here with us."

Oh crap. Sakura's chest grew heavy as she realized that he liked her. This didn't help her situation at all! The last thing she needed was to have an enemy shinobi in love with her. The thought of it made her want to laugh; she doubted he would he still feel the same towards her once he knew who she really was.

"Tsukasa…"

Before she could do anything, he cupped her face and pulled her into a kiss. She tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her. She didn't dare force him much more because most girls would never be strong enough to push a man of his build off of her.

"Stop!" she finally managed to say in the brief seconds she managed to pull her mouth free of his. He finally let her pull back. He turned away from her and the only emotion she could see was from his clenched fist. "I'm sorry." She quickly got up and ran off.

It was wrong for so many reasons. First, she was still married to Kakashi. Second, they were enemies, and they were currently in the beginning of a war. Third… well she just wasn't attracted to him.

She walked the near-dark streets of the town in a daze as the memory played over and over again in her head. It was stupid of her to do such a thing in a town like Iwa. She would soon pay for her folly too.

Someone bumped into her. As she turned to say she was sorry, another person grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth so she couldn't scream. She started fighting back as they dragged her into an alley. Once she knew that no one else would see her, she stopped holding back and elbowed the guy holding her in the gut after concentrating chakra in her elbow. He instantly fell back and groveled in pain.

One of them slashed at her with a kunai before she had time to block him. She felt a sharp sting across her upper arm as the blade cut clean into her flesh. It was more annoying than painful though since she was used to such things. With her unscathed arm, she punched him in the face. Bone cracked under the force. Sakura smiled with delight knowing that he would likely be permanently disfigured unless a skilled medic nin healed him soon—and she doubted that.

The other man wavered as he tried to decide if she was still worth taking on. He took a step back, obviously deciding she wasn't, and ran out of there. The two others quickly followed him and Sakura was left alone in the alley with a bleeding arm. She sighed and sat down on a crate and began heeling her wound. It was risky to use her skills in the open like that but vanity overruled and she didn't want to end up with a scar.

After she was done, she walked back to the inn. She didn't go in though. Instead, she walked around the side of the inn and sat down on the bank of the small lake. Lights from the neighboring buildings flickered across the uneven waters. She sighed and looked up at the stars. There were fewer in the sky than she normally saw in Konoha. But then again, Iwa was a more lit up at night than Konoha and had a glow around it that blocked the weaker stars from sparkling clearly against the night sky.

"Hey." Sakura jumped and turned to find Tsukasa suddenly standing behind her. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead."

He sat down next to her, taking care not to sit too close to her. He didn't look at her directly the entire time. The moment grew longer between them. Sakura kept glancing over at him wondering when he would finally say something.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier." Sakura blinked. Did he, a badass Iwa shinobi, really just _apologize_ to her? Even though he didn't seem all that bad, she still couldn't believe that he was actually sorry for what happened. "I shouldn't have forced you like that."

It was weird seeing a shinobi—let alone a man—show these kinds of feelings. Not even some of her girl friends acted this sincere. She wasn't sure if she should be scared for her life, worried about his sanity, or amazed that he wasn't afraid to say such a thing. "Don't worry about it. It's not the worst thing that has ever happened to me."

"Oh?" he asked, urging her to continue.

She ignored him though. She was not in the mood to share stories and least of all, _that_ one. "I guess I'm not really used to guys coming on to me. Normally, they all fall for my sister, not me."

"I'm surprised."

She laughed and smiled at him. "Meet my sister, then say that."

"Do you still think you'll find her here?"

"Honestly, I don't think I'll ever find her," she sighed and fell back onto the grass. She crossed her arms under her head and stared at the sky. "But you never know, she could be here. If I leave now I might miss her. Do you think I should take that risk and move on?" she mused playfully.

Tsukasa smiled and lay down next to her. "That is a very big risk you would be taking. And who knows what dangers you might encounter if you go off on your own. You would likely be safer if you stayed."

"So you think I should stay? For my own safety of course, and not because of any personal reasons, right?"

"Of course," he laughed. For a moment, they just relaxed there by the lake enjoying the night and each other's company. It was quite peaceful and Sakura thought that it really wasn't a bad place to have to live.

"So we're good, right?" Tsukasa said, ruining the quiet moment.

"No!" she said with absolute sarcasm. They both laughed and stayed outside talking for another hour before finally retiring for the night.

After five days she still had nothing. It was driving her crazy to just sit around day after day wondering when she would finally get some clue about where they were keeping Kakashi. Time was running short. She knew Tsunade had to know she was gone by now and likely had sent a retrieval group after her. That only added to her growing anxiety.

"What am I gonna do if I can't find my sister?" Sakura sighed and took another sip of the cheep beer the guys had bought.

"You could become a prostitute."

She glared over at Tsukasa lazily. "You're lucky I'm too lazy to throw this beer can at you."

"Oh no, not a beer can! Anything but that!" he laughed. Sakura scrunched her nose and clenched her can, ready to throw it at him. But she didn't have to. "Ow! What was that for, Dai—?"

"Tsukasa!" he sharply cut him off. Sakura glanced between them confused. "You talk a lot when you're drunk."

Sakura wasn't exactly sure what had just transpired—she partly blamed the alcohol in her system—and tried to think it all over again. She was talking about throwing her can at Tsukasa and he laughed at her, and then what's-his-name threw his can. Tsukasa then yelled at him…

Then he yelled at Tsukasa, for almost using his name. He had actually started to call him by his name! But what did he say? It started with a D, she remembered that, but she couldn't remember anything that followed.

"Maybe I'll become a ninja like you guys," she joked, trying to change the subject and make the atmosphere a little less tense.

For a second they all looked at her in silence. Then they all started laughing. At least her plan had worked and everything was relaxed again.

"You can't be serious."

"And why not?"

"Like you could really kill someone. Can you even use chakra? Do you even know what it is?"

"I don't need all that crap to be better than you guys," she drunkenly pointed around the room. The more she concentrated on acting drunk the less her pride would start boiling up and make her defend herself as a great kunoichi. "I'm a girl. I have _other_ ways of being a dangerous killer."

"And what are these _other_ ways?" D asked.

"Well according to Tsukasa, being a whore."

"Hey, I did not call you a whore. I called you a prostitute."

"And the difference is?"

"Prostitutes get paid! Whore's just, well they just hook up mostly."

"And how do you know, huh? Are you a man-whore?" she laughed.

"You just want me for yourself?" He leaned closer to her but she pushed him away.

"Ew! Not even if my life depended on it."

"Why not?" he asked, feigning being insulted.

"Sorry but you're not my type."

"What is your type then?" Sebu jumped in.

"Guys that _don't_ have facial hair."

"Do you really think you could charm information out of an enemy shinobi?" D asked her.

She hadn't expected him to change the subject back to that. There had to be some significance to it. D wasn't the kind of guy to mention something for no reason. Maybe this was her chance to get closer to Kakashi! Why else would he be mentioning it? "Why? Do you think that I can't do it either?"

"On the contrary, I think you could do really well with some training."

She snorted and took a sip of her beer. "Where the hell do you even get trained for stuff like that?"

"We could train you."

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously. "You guys can teach me how to seduce men into telling me things?" Her voice cracked as she tried not to laugh while she said it. Sebu and Tsukasa snickered while D gave her a twisted smile.

"If you really want to, we can actually start right now."

This was it. He was actually offering to take her to Kakashi and to try to get information from him. But now wouldn't be good. Alcohol still coursed through her veins leaving her in no condition to try to free Kakashi. "Right now?"

"Well, not _now_ now. We would wait till we're all more sober," he said glancing around the room. "How about tomorrow afternoon then? If you're feeling up to it that is."

Tomorrow evening she could see Kakashi again for the first time in months. Tomorrow night, she could be on her way back to Konoha with Kakashi by her side. And to think, if she had obeyed Tsunade's orders and didn't return, she would never have had this chance; Kakashi would never have had this chance. "Tomorrow," she nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Sakura could barely sleep that night, and not just because Sebu was snoring loudly from the other room. Her heart fluttered in her chest with the excitement of knowing that tomorrow she would see Kakashi. When her fantasies of him turned into dreams she wasn't sure.

"You've already slept through breakfast, are you going to sleep through lunch too?" D asked as he shook her awake.

She groaned and rolled over in bed. "You ruined a wonderful dream so you know," she grumbled. Her face was buried in her pillow so he probably didn't understand her that well—not that he would care for waking her from a good dream. She sighed and sat up. She couldn't waste any more time today. "What's for lunch?"

"Grilled onigiri with vegetable miso." He pointed over to the table in the corner of the room and stood up. "When you're done eating and getting dressed, we'll be downstairs in the lobby." Then he left.

She sat there for a moment as the buzz of excitement filled her. This was really happening! She skipped out of bed and began to get ready for the day. When she finally went down to the lobby, she froze when she saw two of the guys who tried to abduct her last night sitting across from D and the others. Did they know each other? Did they tell D about her? Would they recognize her?

She stood there staring at them, fearing the worst, and didn't move until D said something. "There you are. Are you ready to go?" She nodded slowly, keeping an uneasy gaze on the guys. D, Tsukasa and Sebu all stood and walked over towards her. They didn't give any sort of acknowledgement to the men they were leaving. Maybe they hadn't talked to each other; maybe they were just sitting in the same area. Hopefully that was the case because Sakura had no clue what the hell she would do if the guys found out that she was indeed a kunoichi.

Her nerves never settled down again even after they left. She wasn't concentrating all that much on where the hell they were leading her for her mind was wrapped up in anxiety of all the ways things could go wrong.

"You okay?" Tsukasa asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him slightly startled. "Yeah, just a bit anxious I guess."

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked in a low voice, likely so the other two wouldn't hear him. "You could just run away right now."

There was something in his eyes and his words that made her want to take the advice and turn and run far away. Maybe he was indirectly telling her that she was in over her head and that things were only going to get ugly from here on out.

"I'm fine, really."

He nodded at her but a frown shadowed his expression. He was looking out for her, she knew, but he didn't know what she was capable of. He also didn't know how much she needed to do this.

They passed by a bunch of rundown shacks in what looked like a ghost town. Everything was silent and held the air of death around it. Crows cried out as they flew from the old building to the trees. She almost expected to start seeing bones strewn about the narrow street.

They stopped in the middle of a field of dead grass. Seeing nothing there, Sakura feared that her cover had been blown and she was now going to pay the ultimate price. She should have taken Tsukasa's advice and ran while she still had the chance—not that it likely would have been any good; they were probably much faster than her.

"This way," D said and motioned a hole in the ground that had not been there before. He and Sebu started down the stairs first, followed by Sakura then Tsukasa. As soon as they were underground, the light coming from the entrance vanished. For a second they were swallowed in darkness before small torches along the walls suddenly started burning.

They walked for what seemed like forever and Sakura was beginning to wonder if they would ever stop. "How far are we going down?"

"To get to the first level, six miles. But there are many chambers that stretch deeper and farther than the one we're going to."

Six miles! Sakura groaned inwardly at the idea of having to walk six miles to just get to Kakashi. That also meant that she would have to run six miles to get out of there. Fun…

"Are we really going to walk the entire way?"

"I was wondering when you would ask that." D looked back and nodded at Tsukasa. He picked her up and they all started running. She was use to moving at such speeds but it still took her a bit by surprise to be suddenly rushing further down into the earth.

When they finally stopped, they were in a large round room with many halls leading off of it. Well this was going to be fun trying to remember which way she had to come back. Knowing her luck they would pass through more of these hallways and she would end up completely lost in the maze they had created down there. Then again, they had stopped running so they likely didn't have to travel much farther—she just hoped that they hadn't passed through one of these areas while they were running and everything was a blur to her.

"Are you sure you're ready for us to teach you the art of torture?" D asked her with a smirk. The way he said it made it sound like it was like painting and only few could ever really be masters at it with time. She could imagine a large Cheshire cat-like grin across his face splattered with the blood of his captive as he sadistically enjoyed the torture he put his victim through.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes."

"This way then." He turned down the third corridor from their left. They all followed and for a moment they were in darkness because the corridor was not lit up. Why it was completely dark here she didn't know. Maybe it was so no one could see where each corridor leads when you stood in the large round room they came from.

Sakura barely took five steps into the room before stopping dead. The good news, she had been right; Kakashi was indeed alive and was here being held captive. The bad news, he was far from being okay.

His wrists were shackled above his head and he was slouched over on his knees. He had been stripped down to his pants. Over his left eye was a sealing tag so he couldn't use his Sharingan. His upper body was marked with bruises, cuts, dried blood and dirt. But knowing Kakashi, he was in less pain than he looked. Sakura knew that he had been tortured before and—like the great shinobi he was—the pain was nothing he couldn't handle.

She had been staring at him in blank shock with her jaw slightly dropped. That was before he looked up at her. Slowly he lifted his head and Sakura saw the glimpse of terror that flashed in his eye for the briefest of seconds. She clenched her jaw and fought the urge to cry out and run to him. She felt her legs began to tremble and tried to tense her muscles so they would stop. It didn't work. The shiver slowly crept up her spine and it was all she could do to not call out his name.

"How lovely to see you again."

Her eyes went wide in terror from the sound of his voice. Her gaze slowly crossed the room to where he was happily lounging in a chair. Never in her worst nightmares did she ever imagine running into _him_ again. When their eyes met, a wicked smile played across his face. This had been a trap from the very beginning, from the moment D—or Daichi—had escorted her into Iwa, hadn't it? She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and glared coldly at the man.

"Ibuki…"  


* * *

_The ravenous, blood-sick creature  
Searches for its sacrifice  
It's the one and only Boogie Man_


	6. CH5 Six Miles Under

**CH5 – Six Miles Under**

_I'm so lucky, so cursed, so fucked up  
The last angel has gone  
Leaving me only pain  
What do I have to do to end it_

* * *

"_How lovely to see you again."_

_Her eyes went wide in terror from the sound of his voice. Her gaze slowly crossed the room to where he was happily lounging in a chair. Never in her worst nightmares did she ever imagine running into him again. When their eyes met, a wicked smile played across his face. This had been a trap from the very beginning, from the moment D—or Daichi—had escorted her into Iwa, hadn't it? She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and glared coldly at the man._

"_Ibuki…"_

—*—

"I'm glad you remember me," he said and rose from his chair. He took a step closer to her and she took one back. His smile grew wicked from her retreat. "Now, now, is that anyway to treat an old friend?"

Her mind was yelling at her to do something, anything! She couldn't believe that Ibuki was the one behind all of this! She wanted to punch Ibuki's lights out for existing; wanted to kick him in the balls for what he had done to her; wanted to slit his throat for coming back into her life; and wanted to rip out his heart for taking Kakashi prisoner. But no matter how much she wanted to do those things, she was paralyzed with terror as memories came flooding back in vivid color.

He came closer and she stepped back again. She bumped into Daichi and Sebu and jumped as they grabbed her. "Let me go!" she fussed and tried to escape. Normally her strength would have been enough to break their hold on her, but again she found herself weakened by the past. When Ibuki grazed his fingers across her cheek she shuddered in submission. Her gaze became distant as a wave of numbness washed over her. She couldn't believe this was happening again.

"I wonder, will you scream this time for me?" Sakura remained a zombie and didn't answer. Even when he ran his fingers down the middle of her torso, she gave no response. "How very cooperative you are this time. Pity, though. I think I liked it better when you were thrashing about trying to stop me. Don't you agree, Daichi?"

Kakashi jerked forward against his restraints. He was sick of watching Ibuki—_the_ Ibuki—torment Sakura in such a way. Now knowing who he was he had an even greater desire to send the man straight to hell if it was the last thing he did.

Ibuki looked over at him. "About time I got a rile out of you. I was starting to wonder if you would ever crack." He grinned and turned back to Sakura. He nodded to his men to release her. He then grabbed her and shoved her forward towards Kakashi. She limply fell to her hands and knees in front of him. "I think you know where this is going. Either talk or she'll suffer."

Kakashi clenched his teeth and mentally cursed. Why did she have to come looking for him?! It wasn't that he wanted her to abandon him, but it was a hell of a lot better than being used against him. He was torn in two between being faithful to his people or to his love.

Ibuki became impatient with Kakashi's silence. He grabbed a length of chain off the floor, looped it into a slipknot and placed it around Sakura's throat. "Are you going to start talking?" he tersely asked.

Kakashi looked down at Sakura with a heavy heart. _Forgive me_, he mentally apologized to her. She was a strong girl. He just hoped that he'd figure something out before Ibuki did anything serious to her. He took a deep breath and met Ibuki with a cold hard glare.

He sneered at his lack of a response and yanked the chain around Sakura's neck. "She shall pay for your silence," he growled. Strangely though, Sakura remained silent. She didn't cry out in distress. It was almost as if the chain wasn't there choking her of breath. Ibuki pulled harder but still could not raise a scream out of her.

Kakashi bit back a cry of refusal. He knew Sakura was in pain but it puzzled him why she didn't react at all. Even her eyes were void of any expression. Was she really so terrified by the past that she was left in a comatose?

_Scream, Sakura! Please respond in some way_, he urged her silently. He knew from experience that in situations like this, being silent was the worst thing you could do. He could sense the anger in Ibuki rising and knew he would quickly jump to more drastic forms of torture to get a response from her.

"I'll make you scream yet, bitch." Ibuki snapped his fingers and Daichi brought over a slew of torturous devices. A sick, sadistic gleam glowed in his eyes. Things had changed and now Ibuki seemed more interested in torturing Sakura than getting his information from Kakashi. That bedeviled Kakashi a whole lot more.

He picked up a kunai and brought it to her cheek. He lightly pressed it against her skin. Slowly, he dragged the blade down to her chin leaving a bright crimson line in its place. Daichi handed Ibuki a small bowl and he proceeded to smear whatever was inside it on the wound.

In an instant, Kakashi saw lucidity fill Sakura's gaze for a brief second before she closed her eyes and let out a small yelp of pain. If he had to guess, he would say that it was salt that he had rubbed into her wound.

"Finally, you respond to my touch again. I was beginning to worry that I no longer had an effect on you," he jeered with a laugh. Kakashi shuddered when he licked the wound on Sakura's cheek. This man was sadistically insane, he concluded, and he doubted anyone would argue against the accusation.

"I will make you scream in pain," he whispered in her ear.

"Just like you did last time? Oh wait, you didn't."

Ibuki grabbed her throat and tightly squeezed, choking her. She grabbed his wrist and tried to pry it away but to no avail. "Watch your mouth you little bitch. I raped you before and I will rape you again!"

Her eyes went wide from his threat and she lashed out and kicked him in the gut. His hold on her neck loosened. She tried to run away but he grabbled her ankle before she got out of his reach, making her fall to the floor.

"I was going to wait until later to have you, but you've tried my patience for too long." He crawled over her and pinned her to the floor. She squirmed under his weight but he was too heavy for it to do much good. He undid his pants, revealing his growing member. He began pulling at Sakura's shorts when a hand caught his. How Kakashi managed to find the strength to break the chains was anyone's guess. Maybe it was because he was so outraged at Ibuki and desperately wanted to save Sakura that his body went into overdrive.

Kakashi snapped back his wrist and Ibuki howled in pain. "Don't you dare touch my wife you filthy scum." He removed the seal from over his eye but didn't reveal his Sharingan yet. His body was too weak for him to use it carelessly right now; he would not use it until it was absolutely necessary.

A fight broke out. Ibuki retreated back, cradling his broken wrist, while Tsukasa and Sebu lunged for Kakashi. His reactions were slower than normal due to malnutrition and from being drugged. But that didn't stop him from blocking the kunai and the kick aimed for him.

Sakura was distracted by their fight and didn't notice Ibuki sneaking up behind her. He wrapped one arm—the one with the broken wrist—around her throat and his other arm around her waist. She tried to fight back as he began dragging her away but found it a bit difficult since she couldn't breath.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called. While he was distracted, Sebu jabbed him in the side. He grunted in pain and grabbed the man's wrist. Kakashi flipped him over onto the ground then slit his throat wide open. Daichi lunged for Kakashi but Tsukasa stopped him and took the blow himself.

"Go help her!" he yelled at Kakashi.

"Do you know what you're doing Tsukasa?" he spat and punched him again.

Kakashi wasn't sure what to think of the man's treason and he didn't take the time to ponder it. He quickly got up on his feet and went to Sakura's aid.

"One step closer and I'll cut her gut wide open!" Ibuki threatened.

Kakashi glanced down and sure enough he had a kunai in his hand. They watched each other carefully as Ibuki slowly inched closer to the exit. He hated that all he could do was stand there. He was probably quick enough to grab the kunai from Ibuki's hand if he rushed him, but he wasn't in the best condition and didn't want to take that chance with Sakura's life. He only had one other option, but it was risky. He knew he'd be instantly exhausted if he tried to use the technique, but he had to do it. He had to do everything he could to save Sakura. He braced himself, then opened his left eye.

Sakura stared in shock at Kakashi. She couldn't believe that he had just used his Mangekyou Sharingan in his current condition. Ibuki's grip slowly loosened before he collapsed to the floor. "Kakashi!" She ran to him as he fell to his knees. She placed a hand on his shoulder and eyed the wound on his left side. "You stupid idiot! Why did you do that?" she cried in both fright and joy. She pressed her hand against his wound and began healing him.

He looked up at her. His left eye was closed again and he was breathing heavily. The corners of his mouth tilted up into a smile. She was safe and she was with him. He had been longing to see her from the moment he woke up in that dismal place. He missed the way her eyes sparkled; the way she'd always smile with all the happiness in the world when he'd come home from a mission; her cute, pouty face when she was mad at him; the sweet caress of her gentle voice; but most of all, he just missed having her near him.

Sakura's heart began to flutter when he brushed her fingers over her cheek. She could feel some force pulling her closer to him, like in a movie when a couple naturally draws closer together before they kiss. The distance between their lips grew less and less. Just as they were about to kiss a loud, blaring siren started to go off.

"They're coming for us," Kakashi said. Neither of them moved though—and for the same reason, "Would you like the honor?" he asked and held out a kunai to her.

"Do you even have to ask," she said and took the weapon. She walked over to Ibuki. He was still on the floor twitching. For a man that loved to torture others he sure couldn't handle it himself. There were so many things she wanted to do to that man but didn't have the time to do so. Even if she had a lifetime, she doubted she would actually commit all the horrid things she was thinking of because that would make her just as bad as him.

"I will show you mercy," she said coldly and stabbed him in the groin. The act was selfish, but she couldn't let him go scot-free. But she did keep her word; she would show him mercy. He made her suffer ever since that first night. But she would only make him suffer a few more seconds. She removed the kunai from his groin and stabbed him in the heart. The kunai acted as a bridge, which Sakura used to force her chakra into the muscle, stopping it instantly.

"Let's go."

When she turned to leave, she noticed Tsukasa lying on the floor. He wasn't moving. "Tsukasa!" She rushed over to him. His breathing was labored and his pulse was weakening. If she didn't do something soon he would likely die.

"Come on Sakura, we don't have time for this!"

"No! I can't just leave him to die. Besides, do _you_ know how to get out of here? I sure as hell don't remember. _He_ does know. He also helped save your ass a moment ago if I remember correctly. It's the least I can do for him."

"Hurry up then. Time is running short."

Sakura turned back to Tsukasa. She looked him over so see what kind of damage she had to work with. She took a kunai from the pouch around his leg and cut open his shirt. There were a few deep cuts and some bruises starting to form, but she had a feeling that most of the damage was internal. She focused her chakra in her hands and healed the cuts first. Then she examined the state of his internal organs.

It was worse than she had thought. One of his ribs had fractured and was pressing against his lung. It hadn't punctured it yet but it was bleeding and filling his chest cavity with blood.

She took a deep breath and began her work. "Hold him," she told Kakashi. He did, though it wasn't likely going to do much good considering how weak he was. Carefully, Sakura used her chakra and pulled the rib back into place. As she expected, he howled and squirmed in pain. He continued to grunt in pain as she healed the bone. Healing bone was always painful and she had yet to meet a shinobi that could sit there completely impassive during it. As soon as it was healed she fixed the scratching and bruising on his lung and forced the blood to reabsorb into his veins.

"Ow, dammit," Tsukasa cursed as he sat up. He looked over at Sakura curiously and said, "You're a medic nin?"

"Less talking, more escaping," she barked and hopped to her feet. She wobbled for a second from vertigo but quickly recovered.

"Right, this way." Tsukasa led the way to the stairs. They began running up the long, twisting passageway, but not quickly enough it seemed. They could all sense the chakra of their pursuers coming closer. Even so, their bodies didn't seem to listen to their mental curses to move faster.

"You two go on. I'll hold them back."

"What?" Sakura yelled at Tsukasa. "Are you serious?"

"I know how to fight these guys better than you two. And really I'm the only one who's fit to fight."

"Barely! You just nearly died."

"Yes, and you healed me. Thank you. But now I must do this." Tsukasa stopped running and smiled at them as they continued on. Soon, the sounds of a scuffle echoed through the corridor. It was bittersweet, Tsukasa's sacrifice, and Sakura felt so much regret with each clash of metal and grunt she heard.

It wasn't long before they were being followed again.

"Sakura?"

"What?"

"The exit is just a few more meters ahead. I want you to make a run for it and get as far away from this place as you can."

Sakura stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him. "What?" she protested.

"I can stall them while you make your escape."

"I'm not leaving you Kakashi! I lost you once and I don't want to lose you again. I need you. Rihito needs you. You can't do this to us again." She choked back tears and tried to pull him forward. He refused to budge. "Come on Kakashi! We can make it."

"I'm sorry." He pulled her to him and kissed her. It was rough and filled with pain and goodbye. Sakura trembled in his arms. She didn't want to leave him. It hurt the first time she thought she had lost him; she didn't want to have to go through that pain again. "I love you. Take good care of Rihito. And tell him happy birthday for me, please." Then he ran away in the opposite direction.

She stood there frozen with grief. Again, Kakashi would miss one of his son's firsts: his first birthday. For the longest time she stood there staring down the passage where Kakashi had just vanished to. That was the last time she would see him, wasn't it?

The whole tunnel shook around her, snapping her out of her spell. She turned and started running. Behind her, she could feel the underground cavern starting to collapse. Rocks began falling around her and she picked up her pace. She couldn't die down there. She had to live for Rihito, for Kakashi, for everyone dear in her life.

Another violent quake shook the ground around her. She braced herself against the wall and shielded herself with her arm from the debris falling from the ceiling. When everything settled she looked up and found her path blocked.

"Dammit," she cursed. She was so close to the exit and now she was blocked in. She tried to summon her chakra so she could punch the boulders away but she was too drained from healing Tsukasa—besides, punching the hell out some boulders probably wasn't the best idea in an underground tunnel. She cursed again and started to pry the rocks away one by one. With any hope she'd be able to make a hole big enough for her to squeeze through before the tunnel caved in on her.

On the other side of the barrier she felt a surge of chakra. She quickly backed away just in time to not get pummeled with thousands of tiny rocks.

"Sakura!" a familiar voice called. Naruto rushed through the rubble and grabbed Sakura. "Come on, we have to leave. This place is about to collapse." He started dragging her along out of the tunnel.

"But Kakashi—"

"Hurry!"

Running up the miles of stairs to the surface wouldn't have been a challenge if the ground around them weren't shaking uncontrollably. Sakura was the only one having trouble with her though. Naruto never fell out of step once as he ran, while Sakura tripped every few steps. How was it that Naruto was so calm? Didn't he realize that Kakashi was somewhere back in the labyrinth of tunnels?

Just as they were nearing the exit the entire tunnel came down on them. Naruto pulled Sakura under him, protecting her from the worse of it. He couldn't move to try and dig out because even the smallest movement he made shook rubble down from above. If all the dust didn't choke them to death, they would suffocate soon as their air supply quickly depleted.

Thankfully, Akamaru was up on the surface to help dig them out. As soon as Naruto's blond hair peeked out from under the dirt, Kiba dug and grabbed his shoulder to pull him out. He handed him over to Hinata and then pulled out Sakura.

"Are you guys o-okay?" Hinata asked.

"I'm fine," Naruto choked, getting the last of the dust out of his lungs. He looked over at Sakura and frowned. She was shaking in Kiba's arms. "Sakura? Are you okay?"

"No… not again," she whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"Kakashi!" she cried and burst into tears. "He was down there! We have to get him out of there." She flung herself forward and started digging into the dirt. "We have to save him. I can't lose him again."

"Sakura, Kakashi died months ago," Naruto said and pulled her back.

"No!" She pulled against him but he was stronger.

"She's right," Kiba said solemnly. "His scent is on her, and it's fresh."

"Even so, the entire cavern caved in down there." He let the question hang silently in the air. Could Kakashi even be alive still if he was down there? He looked over at Hinata as he thought of an idea. It was a long shot, but maybe there was hope for Kakashi still. "Hinata, can you see down there?"

"I can try." She closed her eyes and focused and activated her Byakugan. It took her some time to scan the entire hideout—partly because it was so deeply underground. It was hard to tell what used to be tunnels and what had always been there. The larger caverns were easier to notice since they had remnants of bodies and iron bars and other things not normally found in the ground. But as she looked, she detected no life. Everything down there was completely destroyed. She deactivated her Byakugan and shook her head.

Sakura turned and buried her face in Naruto's arms. Kakashi was really gone this time; he would never return to her now.

"I'm so sorry," Naruto whispered and tightly hugged her. It hurt him so much to see her so upset. What hurt more was that he had promised himself that he would never let this happen to her again. Yet here they were mourning Kakashi's death once more.

At sunset, they all helped Sakura set up a small memorial at the site. It was just a small round stone to mark the place—there wasn't much else they could use. Sakura had taken the time to carve Henohenomoheji, Kakashi's signature character, into the stone. It was better than putting his name, she thought. That way, only those who knew him best would know where his body laid.

When the sun finally dipped below the horizon Sakura stood and wiped the final tears from her eyes. She turned to her friends, put on a fake smile, and said, "Let's go home." Everyone saw through it, but then again, it wasn't supposed to fool them. It went unspoken that Sakura wanted to grieve silently by herself as she learned to deal with the pain. It was the normal process for any woman in her situation, because the death of a lover was inevitable when you're married to a shinobi.

* * *

_This is it and now  
You're really gone this time  
Just fighting to get through the night  
With every move I die  
I'm faded  
I'm broken inside  
With tears in my eyes  
I'm losing it_


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_I won't forget  
How lonely it can get  
You're all I've got right now_

* * *

It was 11:56 P.M., four minutes before Rihito's first birthday. Sakura sat next to his bed and watched him sleep. She couldn't believe that it had already been one year since he was born. The only thing that would have made the occasion better was if Kakashi were there to celebrate it as well.

She sighed softly and stroked Rihito's cheek. He stirred in his slumber. Slowly, his eyes peeked open and he yawned. His gaze focused on Sakura and he reached out for her.

"Only four more minutes until it's your birthday!" she sang softly. She picked him up and set him on her hip. One of his tiny hands pulled her hair and the other wrapped around the collar of her shirt—Kakashi's shirt; she had been wearing his shirts to bed every night since she returned home.

Rihito nuzzled his mother's neck, still half asleep. She knew he had picked up Kakashi's scent on the garment when his soft laughs stopped. He looked up at her and his brow furrowed as he pouted his lip. "Where's daddy?"

"Daddy is off fighting bad guys," she whispered. She hated lying to him, but for time being, it was for the best. It wasn't like he could understand what death was anyways. "He'll be back soon."

But he continued to pout. He had been given the same answer day after day for months now yet his father was still not home. And so he began to fuss and cry. He missed Kakashi just as much as Sakura missed him.

A low thump came from somewhere else in the house as Sakura tried to quite the child. She quickly pressed her hand over his mouth and said, "Quiet, Rihito." The child froze as his mother told him to. She quickly and silently went over to the closet and opened the door. "Hide and keep quiet. Do not come out until I say so."

With Rihito taken care of, Sakura grabbed the hidden kunai she kept hidden behind his dresser and crept out into the hallway, closing the door after her. She heard another thump fallowed by the sound of something being dragged across the floor. She waited by the foot of the stairs. Whoever the intruder was, they were right around the corner.

She swiftly stepped around the corner and was about to throw the kunai but she froze. In the dim light shining through the window she could just make out the man's face. "Ka–Kakashi?"

"Sorry… it took so long… for me to return," he struggled to say. She dropped the kunai and instantly wrapped her arms around him. Tears began spilling from her eyes because she was so overjoyed that he was actually alive. "Can't, breath," he choked.

She immediately loosened her grip around him and pulled back enough to see his face. "How the hell are you still alive?"

"Do you really think it's that easy to kill me?" His voice was rough and feint. It was a wonder that he could talk—it was a wonder that he could still move! Sakura helped prop him against the wall so he wouldn't collapse to the floor. "Besides, I wouldn't want to miss my son's first birthday, would I?"

That reminded her that he was still hiding. She smiled and turned back towards the stairs. "Rihito!" she called. "It's okay, you can come out now. And come downstairs. I have a present for you."

The halls filled with the fast trampling of little feet as the boy practically flew down the stairs. "Present!" he sang as he rounded the corner. For a second, all the joy in his expression vanished when he saw Kakashi. But it quickly returned as the boy threw himself at him and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Daddy!"

He laughed and limply hugged him back. "Happy birthday, Rihito. Sorry I've been gone so long."

* * *

_Only love can bring us home_

**[A/N: Did you really think I would kill off Kakashi =) lol. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it!]**


End file.
